Genevieve Shore, Pearson’s director of digital strategy, gave a briefing to the media this morning in London and the news is looking good for startups potentially looking for an exit route to a media company. Asked if Pearson plans to grow its innovation through acquisition she replied that “there is definitely an M&A strategy. We’ll be focusing on digital service providers and acquiring great technology.”
Pearson has what it calls an “internal and external” startup strategy. Externally it’s partnered with startups like LiveMocha, the language learning site which has integrated a lot of Pearson’s educational material. In addition it’s working with MobileDo, a startup in China focused on English language learning over mobile.
Internally it’s also now looking at creating small internal startup teams, staffing them up with technology and giving them their head in a more ‘set-free’ startup environment. This could also prove to be a fertile ground for startups to engage with. “We’re keen to get people out of the marble halls” said Shore.
Pearson is also a sponsor of TechHub a new London based centre for technology innovation and entrepreneurship.